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Thursday, July 16, 2015

Low limit game I am entering the pot with one raise in front of me: mythos1981. Flop is on my side and I pay for second time the raise of the opponent (he is trying to take out the pot).
Turn is very important card because allows mythos1981 to make a straight which was quite a long shot at the flop. Here he bets again but just three big blinds and although I clearly see the danger of straight or J9 or JT full house I still don’t want to fold.
The river is turning the game again and the straight of mythos1981 now has absolutely no value because only J or 9 is making a full. The only real dangers for me are 99 or JT. mythos1981 is checking instead of betting I am sure that he is now afraid of the situation (there is of course chance is trying to trap me).
The next step is a reasonable one pot bet from me and the opponent is paying instead of folding which wins me a nice pot.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Many players are loosing a lot of money because the way they play AA and KK. I met many who are raise just a little with such hand and then no matter the pot they are putting everything.
My advice is never to let the opponents see easily the flop when you are holding such hand. A serious raise (or even all in depending on the stack and the type of game you play) is the best solution. There are two main reasons why I prefer this kind of play.
First, you don’t allow drawing hand to catch something on the flop as flush or straight or two pairs. Most of the time even if you see that you are loosing the game (for instance there are four spades and four players – the chance no one to hold at least one spade is very small) is very hard to fold such hand.
Second, from time to time you will be playing with fishes or players in the so called tilt or just too loose players who will call you with not so serious cards as AT, QA, KQ etc. And they will turn you pairs into a very profitable hand.

The online poker except for being nice hobby and spare time activity could turn into you lucky loto ticket. You can achieve this by the large number of tournaments which are giving away millions each day to their winners.

You can easily start your poker career even without depositing a dime: you can check the best promos here:

There are a lot of so called satellites to the biggest events on the net. You can start with a small fee or even with a freeroll and end in a tournament with hundreds of thousands of money to be won.

Good example is the poker platform where with just $1.1 fee you can reach a tourney with more than 1M in the weekly tourney called Sunday Million. No matter if you are an advanced player or just beginner you loose nothing to try and keep on trying until you hit something.

Such tournaments can make different for everybody so why should you take your chances. And don’t forget – luck always comes uninvited.

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

This bright example of how to press the opponents when playing tournaments especially when they are short stacked.
From the poison of the big blind I see two short stacks at the table who are in the game without raise. With my pair I directly pushed them to go all in or surrender their chips. In that particular case they both of them decided to enter the game (which is the worse scenario with middle pair I strongly prefer to play heads up but anyway I am in comfortable position before the flop is coming down.
Everything is over for the opponents when the turn appears to be the third 7 and on the river they are both drawing dead.Don't forget to take a look at our Poker Catalogue

This is bright example of how unexpected poker may be and even if you are well prepared some things are extremely hard to see.
The preflop started with irishpg raising three big blinds the flop; I paid holding good cards and being on better position. WickedMe having good drawing cards paid and the see the flop.
The flop gave us all something: irishpg and I caught the top pair with nice kickers (his was nicer of course but I had nowhere to know it) and WickedMe a very nice flush draw plus a hidden 5 straight draw.
The action was: irishpg raised half the pot and we just paid him. Here came the turn card and WickedMe caught the most unexpected straight from Ace to 5. As it is normal irishpg didn’t noticed the danger and raised again half the pot I paid believing in my J kicker but I was ready to fold if I was to miss the river.
The river was horrible for me: giving me two pairs and no option for flush. WickedMe raised furiously and I paid.

This game is a sure proof of how unsuccessful slow playing can be. This is sit ‘n’ go one table tournament and I am entering a game without raise in front of me with the fair cards J8.
The flop is really good giving me chance to make a straight with 7 or Q (open ended straight draw). Again the opponents who are most certainly standing on better card miss the opportunity to try and set me out of the game. There is only one pot raise from hazzeri which I gladly pay.
The turn is definitely my card making my straight come true and giving hazzeri set of sevens. He betted the pot again and surprisingly for me the very passive gege1977 re-raised. I was more than confidant to go all in and the other two paid me.
On the river the pocket rockets of gege1977 were drawing dead (what a way to play this great hand) and the hazzeri was seeking to make a full house: every 6, 7, 9 or T was out for him but it just didn’t happen.

There are very weird poker situation proving that the virility of the game is countless. This is bright example of poker: four aces on the table.
What should a player do here? What is the best possible hand – the answer is simple but at the same time not every player is realizing that you need to hold the King (K) in order to be sure winner.
That hand is truly a poker specialty.

Monday, June 29, 2015

In poker is widely known that river is the card which could cause you heart attack after a horrible bad beat. And this story is like this: the tournament multi table and the action is between serega757626 and Pixie.
On the flop Pixie caught two pairs and made a bet which was paid by serega757626 who was overrating seriously his top pair.
On the turn Pixie already had a full house and went all in serega757626 paid again which was surprising for me with only this weak trips. The river card was crucial and serega757626 got extremely lucky to save his tournament life on the expense of Pixie who played the situation absolutely correctly but became a victim of horrible bad beat.

This is one very interesting game with hiz61 and travski on the battlefield.
Both players were confused to see the flop and they checked. Probably a value bet would have won the pot at this moment.
The true action began on the turn when a Q of clubs was opened. This gave a powerful full house (kings full of queens) in the hands of hiz61 and the nut straight flush draw for travski. There were raise and call and both players saw the river card.
It was a small miracle for travski who catched the nuts at the end. Probably he was hoping that hiz61 is hiding the last king after all and will jump in his all in. hiz61 is not holding the king but surely overrated a full house and pays his money on it.Don't forget to take a look at the professional poker school at: www.pokerstrategy.com

We have a classical situation proving the idea that cards like 89 unsuited give the players the freedom to play in a few ways depending on the flop.
Here on better position I pay the raise of PageDown06 who is holding a middle pair on the big blind. On the flop he catches a set of 7’s but there is serious danger for a straight or a flush. Probably that is the reason he is checking instead of betting (or maybe he is trying to trap me). For me with a middle pair it is a perfect free card.
The turn is both for me: good giving me the second pair and very bad allowing a straight if the opponent is holding a 10. PageDown06 is in the same position but this time decides to try and take down the pot. He bets the pot and I gladly pay. For me sitting on a better position is a big advantage: because I can wait to see if I catch full house on the river or another “hearts” so I can pretend to have a flush with a big re-raise.
The river is killing my opponent giving us both full houses. He is putting me on a straight or flush draw so seeing the second 9 is releasing him. The river has the same effect on me making me a sure winner (except of JJ). The following events are as expected: raise, re-raise and all in.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

1. Tournaments will begin according to schedules. Should a player fail to be logged in at the time the tournament commences, he or she may forfeit their space at the table.
2. It’s not possible to change seats during a tournament, except when part of the tournament table balancing – see Multi Table Tournaments section.
3. In all tournaments the seats are assigned randomly.
4. During a Multi Table Tournament the button is placed at a fixed position, in a Single Table Tournament however, the players are high-carding for the button.
5. The Tournament will end when one player accumulates all the chips in play.
6. Should two or more players be eliminated on the same hand, the player with more chips at the beginning of the hand will be placed higher. If players started the hands with identical amounts of chips, then both players tie for that rank and any prizes due to those players will be distributed equally amongst them.
7. When players that were supposed to post blind in the next are eliminated, there may be players who get a reprieve from one of both blinds due to the fact that the button will move anyway.
8. With only two players remaining, the button will post the small blind and act first on the opening round.
9. Disconnects:
9.1 By participating in a tournament, a player accepts the risk of Internet disconnection, due to the problems with the connection between their computer and the servers, lag or freeze or some other problem in the player's computer. PokerRoom.com does not accept any responsibility for a player disconnect except in the case of a server crash.
9.2 If a player loses connection, he/she will have an extra 30 seconds to reconnect on top of the regular time allotment for acting.
9.3 If a player times out during a hand, whether connected or disconnected, his or her hand will be folded.
9.4 If a player is not connected before a hand commences, he or she will be dealt cards and a blind ante will be posted. There is no rule against choosing to sit out – a player doing so will continue to have blinds and antes posted, as well as cards dealt.
10. Unethical play, including collusion, may result in disqualification and the termination of the offender’s account.
11. As players are knocked out, the tournament tables will be balanced to ensure all tables have as equal an amount of players as possible. The balancing of tables is done randomly.
12. A bet and three raises are permitted in structured limit tournaments. There is no raise cap in pot-limit and no-limit tournaments.
13. In the event of a server crash, the tournament will be restarted from the position it was halted. If that’s not possible, the remaining portion of the prize pool will be divided between the remaining players.
14. Prizes will be awarded in accordance with the prize list.
15. Players may not discuss a hand until all gaming action is finished.

This is a very good example for the hands in Texas hold'em poker. So on the board we have five community cards called: "flop, turn and river" and each of the players is holding two cards. In our case there are four players: Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice. They are making different hands as combination between their cards and the community cards.
Bob is having three of a king with kicker Ace
Carol has an Ace high flush
Ted is with Full house kings full of fours
Alice is holding straight eight high
If they reach show down the winner will be Ted who is having the most powerful combination.

Texas hold 'em (also hold'em, holdem) is the most popular poker game in the casinos and poker card rooms across North America and Europe.[1] Hold 'em is a community card game where each player may use any combination of the five community cards and the player's own two hole cards to make a poker hand, in contrast to poker variants like stud or draw where each player holds a separate individual hand. After slow but steady gains in popularity throughout the 20th century, hold 'em's popularity surged in the 2000s due to exposure on television, on the Internet, and in popular literature. During this time hold 'em replaced 7 card stud as the most common game in U.S. casinos, almost totally eclipsing the once popular game.[2] The no-limit betting form is used in the widely televised main event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour (WPT). Because each player only starts with two cards and the remaining cards are shared, it presents an opportune game for strategic analysis (including mathematical analysis). Hold 'em's simplicity and popularity have inspired a wide variety of strategy books which provide recommendations for proper play. Most of these books recommend a strategy that involves playing relatively few hands but betting and raising often with the hands one plays. In Texas hold 'em, like all variants of poker, individuals compete for an amount of money contributed by the players themselves (called the pot). Because the cards are dealt randomly and outside the control of the players, each player attempts to control the amount of money in the pot based on the hand the player holds. The game is divided into a series of hands or deals; at the conclusion of each hand the pot is awarded to one or more players. A hand ends either at the showdown (when the remaining players compare their hands), or when all but one player have folded and abandoned their claims to the pot. The pot is then awarded to the player(s) who have not folded and have the best hand. (This is usually only one player, but can be more in the case of a tie.) The objective of winning players is not winning every individual hand, but rather making mathematically correct decisions regarding when and how much to bet, raise, call or fold. By making such decisions, winning poker players maximize long-term winnings by maximizing their expected utility on each round of betting. Although little is known about the invention of Texas hold 'em, the Texas State Legislature officially recognizes Robstown, Texas as the game's birthplace, dating the game to the early 1900s. After its invention and spread throughout Texas, hold 'em was introduced to Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan gamblers and card players, including Crandell Addington, Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim.[6] Addington said the first time he saw the game was in 1959. "They didn't call it Texas hold 'em at the time, they just called it hold 'em... I thought then that if it were to catch on, it would become the game. Draw poker, you only bet twice; hold 'em, you bet four times. That meant you could play strategically. This was more of a thinking man's game." For several years the Golden Nugget Casino in Downtown Las Vegas was the only casino in Las Vegas to offer the game. At that time, the Golden Nugget's poker room was "truly a 'sawdust joint,' with... oiled sawdust covering the floors."[8] Because of its location and decor, this poker room did not receive many rich drop-in clients, and as a result, professional players sought a more prominent location. In 1969, the Las Vegas professionals were invited to play Texas hold 'em at the entrance of the now-demolished Dunes Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. This prominent location, and the relative inexperience of poker players with Texas hold 'em, resulted in a very remunerative game for professional players. After a disappointing attempt to establish a "Gambling Fraternity Convention", Tom Moore added the first ever poker tournament to the Second Annual Gambling Fraternity Convention held in 1969. This tournament featured several games including Texas hold 'em. In 1970 Benny and Jack Binion acquired the rights to this convention, renamed it the World Series of Poker, and moved it to their casino Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. After its first year, a journalist, Tom Thackrey, suggested that the main event of this tournament should be no-limit Texas hold 'em. The Binions agreed and ever since no-limit Texas hold 'em has been played as the main event.[8] Interest in the Main Event continued to grow steadily over the next two decades. After receiving only 8 entrants in 1972, the numbers grew to over 100 entrants in 1982, and over 200 in 1991.[During this time, Doyle Brunson's revolutionary poker strategy guide, Super/System was first published. Despite being self-published and priced at $100 in 1978, the book revolutionized the way poker was played. It was one of the first books to discuss Texas hold 'em, and is today cited as one of the most important books on this game. A few years later, Al Alvarez published a book detailing an early World Series of Poker event. The first book of its kind, it described the world of professional poker players and the World Series of Poker. It is credited with beginning the genre of poker literature and with bringing Texas hold 'em (and poker generally), for the first time, to a wider audience. Interest in hold 'em outside of Nevada began to grow in the 1980s as well. Although California had legal card rooms offering draw poker, Texas hold 'em was prohibited under a statute which made illegal the now unknown game "stud-horse". However in 1988, Texas hold 'em was declared legally distinct from "stud-horse" in Tibbetts v. Van De Kamp, 271 Cal. Rptr. 792 (1990). Almost immediately card rooms across the state offered Texas hold 'em. (It is often presumed that this decision ruled that hold 'em was a skill game, but the distinction between skill and chance has never entered into California jurisprudence regarding poker.) After a trip to Las Vegas, bookmakers Terry Rogers and Liam Flood introduced the game to European card players in the early 1980s In the first decade of the 21st century, Texas hold 'em experienced a surge in popularity worldwide Many observers attribute this growth to the synergy of five factors: the invention of online poker, the game's appearance in film and on television, the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the appearance of television commercials advertising online cardrooms, and the 2003 World Series of Poker championship victory by online qualifier Chris Moneymaker. Prior to poker becoming widely televised, the movie Rounders (1998), starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, gave moviegoers a romantic view of the game as a way of life. Texas hold 'em was the main game played during the movie and the no-limit variety was described, following Doyle Brunson, as the "Cadillac of Poker". A clip of the classic showdown between Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel from the 1988 World Series of Poker was also incorporated into the film. Hold 'em first caught the public eye as a spectator sport in the United Kingdom with the Late Night Poker TV show in 1999. Fueled by the introduction of lipstick cameras, which allowed spectators to see the players' private cards, hold 'em exploded in popularity as a spectator sport in the United States and Canada in 2003. ESPN's coverage of the 2003 World Series of Poker featured the unexpected victory of Internet player Chris Moneymaker, an amateur player who gained admission to the tournament by winning a series of online tournaments. Moneymaker's victory initiated a sudden surge of interest in the World Series, based on the egalitarian idea that anyone – even a rank novice – can become a world champion. In 2003, there were 839 entrants in the WSOP Main Event, and triple that number in 2004. The crowning of the 2004 WSOP champion, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, a patent attorney from Connecticut, further fueled the popularity of the event among amateur (and particularly internet) players. In the 2005 Main Event, an unprecedented 5,619 entrants vied for a first prize of $7,500,000. The winner, Joe Hachem of Australia, was a semi-professional player. This growth continued in 2006, with 8,773 entrants and a first place prize of $12,000,000 (won by Jamie Gold). Beyond the World Series, other television shows – including the long running World Poker Tour – are credited with increasing the popularity of Texas hold 'em. In addition to its presence on network and general audience cable television, poker has now become a regular part of sports networks' programming in the United States. Twenty years after the publication of Alvarez's groundbreaking book, James McManus published a semi-autobiographical book, Positively Fifth Street (2003), which simultaneously describes the trial surrounding the murder of Ted Binion and McManus' own entry into the 2000 World Series of Poker. McManus, a poker amateur, finished 5th in the No-Limit Texas Hold 'em main event, winning over $200,000.[34] In the book McManus discusses events surrounding the World Series, the trial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, poker strategy, and some history of poker and the world series. Michael Craig's 2005 book The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King details a series of high stakes Texas hold 'em one-on-one games between Texas banker Andy Beal and a rotating group of poker professionals. As of 2006, these games were the highest stakes ever played, reaching $100,000–$200,000 fixed limit. The ability to play cheaply and anonymously online has been credited as a cause of the increase in popularity of Texas hold 'em. Online poker sites both allow people to try out games and also provide an avenue for entry into large tournaments (like the World Series of Poker) via smaller tournaments known as satellites. Both the 2003 and 2004 winners of the World Series qualified by playing in these tournaments. The descriptions below assume a familiarity with the general game play of poker, and with poker hands. For a general introduction to these topics, see poker, poker hands, poker probability, and poker jargon. See the article on betting for a detailed explanation of betting in these variations of hold 'em. Hold 'em is normally played using small and big blind bets – forced bets by two players. Antes (forced contributions by all players) may be used in addition to blinds, particularly in later stages of tournament play. A dealer button is used to represent the player in the dealer position; the dealer button rotates clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds. The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the dealer and is usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind, posted by the player to the left of the small blind, is equal to the minimum bet. In tournament poker, the blind/ante structure periodically increases as the tournament progresses. (In some cases, the small blind is some other fraction of a small bet, e.g. $10 is a common small blind when the big blind is $15. The double-blind structure described above is a commonly used and more recent adoption.) When only two players remain, special 'head-to-head' or 'heads up' rules are enforced and the blinds are posted differently. In this case, the person with the dealer button posts the small blind, while his/her opponent places the big blind. The dealer acts first before the flop. After the flop, the dealer acts last for the remainder of the hand. The three most common variations of hold 'em are limit hold 'em, no-limit hold 'em and pot-limit hold 'em. Limit hold 'em has historically been the most popular form of hold 'em found in casino live action games in the United States.[2] In limit hold 'em, bets and raises during the first two rounds of betting (pre-flop and flop) must be equal to the big blind; this amount is called the small bet. In the next two rounds of betting (turn and river), bets and raises must be equal to twice the big blind; this amount is called the big bet. No-limit hold 'em is the form most commonly found in televised tournament poker and is the game played in the main event of the World Series of Poker. In no-limit hold 'em, players may bet or raise any amount over the minimum raise up to all of the chips the player has at the table (called an all-in bet). If someone wishes to re-raise, they must raise at least the amount of the previous raise. For example, if the big blind is $2 and there is a bet of $6 to a total of $8, a raise must be at least $6 more for a total of $14. If a raise or re-raise is all-in and does not equal the size of the previous raise, the initial raiser can not re-raise again. This only matters of course if there was a call before the re-raise. In pot-limit hold 'em, the maximum raise is the current size of the pot (including the amount needed to call).

Most casinos that offer hold 'em also allow the player to the left of the big blind to post an optional live straddle, usually double the amount of the big blind, which then acts as the big blind. No-limit games may also allow multiple re-straddles, in any amount that would be a legal raise.[12] Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. (Like most poker games, the deck is a standard 52 card deck, no jokers.) These cards are the player's hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown, making Texas hold 'em a closed poker game. The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. A round of betting continues until every player has either folded, put in all of their chips, or matched the amount put in by all other active players. See betting for a detailed account. Note that the blinds are considered "live" in the pre-flop betting round, meaning that they contribute to the amount that the blind player must contribute, and that, if all players call around to the player in the big blind position, that player may either check or raise. After the pre-flop betting round, assuming there remain at least two players taking part in the hand, the dealer deals a flop, three face-up community cards. The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise. After the flop betting round ends, a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary. In all casinos, the dealer will burn a card before the flop, turn, and river. Because of this burn, players who are betting cannot see the back of the next community card to come, which might be marked.[12] If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the five community cards. A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player's best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board and can only hope to split the pot, since each other player can also use the same five cards to construct the same hand.[12]
If the best hand is shared by more than one player, then the pot is split equally among them, with any extra chips going to the first players after the button in clockwise order. It is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. Nevertheless, one must be careful in determining the best hand; if the hand involves fewer than five cards, (such as two pair or three of a kind), then kickers are used to settle ties (see the second example below). Note that the card's numerical rank is of sole importance; suit values are irrelevant in Hold'em.

Poker is a type of card game in which players bet on the value of the card combination ("hand") in their possession, by placing a bet into a central pot. The winner is the one who holds the hand with the highest value according to an established hand rankings hierarchy or otherwise the player who remains in the hand after all others have folded (the player who makes an un-called bet.). Poker has many variations, all following a similar pattern of play and using the same hand ranking hierarchy. There are three main families of variants, largely grouped by the protocol of card-dealing and betting:
* Stud - Cards are dealt in a prearranged combination of face-down and face-up rounds or "streets", with a round of betting following each. This is the oldest Poker family; 3 card and 5 card stud variants were popular as of the late 1700's. The most popular stud variant today, 7 card stud, deals two extra cards to each player from which they must make the best possible 5-card hand.
* Draw - A complete hand is dealt to each player, face-down, and after betting, players are allowed to attempt to change their hand by discarding unwanted cards and being dealt new ones. 5 card draw is the most famous variation in this family.
* Community - A variation of Stud, players are dealt an incomplete hand of face-down cards, and then a number of face-up "community" cards are dealt to the center of the table, each of which can be used by one or more of the players to make a 5-card hand. Texas hold-em and Omaha are two well-known variants of the Community family. There are other games that use poker hand rankings may likewise be referred to as "poker". For instance, video poker is a single-player computer game that functions much like a slot machine; most video poker machines play draw poker, where the player bets, a hand is dealt, and the player can discard and replace cards. Payout is dependent on the hand resulting after the draw and the player's initial bet. Another game with the "Poker" name, but with a vastly different mode of play, is called "Acey-Deucey" or "Red Dog" Poker. This game is more similar to Blackjack in its layout and betting; each player bets against the house, and then is dealt two cards. For the player to win, the third card dealt (after an opportunity to raise the bet) must have a value in between the first two. Payout is based on the odds that this is possible, based on the difference in values of the first two cards. In casual play, the right to deal a hand typically rotates among the players and is marked by a token called a 'dealer' button (or "buck"). In a casino, a house dealer handles the cards for each hand, but the button (typically a white plastic disk) is rotated clockwise among the players to indicate a nominal dealer to determine the order of betting. One or more players are usually required to make forced bets, usually either an ante or a blind bet (sometimes both). The dealer shuffles the cards, the player one chair to his right cuts, and the dealer deals the appropriate number of cards to the players one at a time. Cards may be dealt either face-up or face-down, depending on the variant of poker being played. After the initial deal, the first of what may be several betting rounds begins. Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt. At the end of each round, all bets are gathered into the central pot. At any time during a betting round, if one player bets and no opponents choose to "call" (match) the bet and instead "fold", the hand ends immediately, the bettor is awarded the pot, no cards are required to be shown, and the next hand begins. This is what makes bluffing possible. Bluffing is a primary feature of poker, one that distinguishes it from other vying games and from other games that make use of poker hand rankings. At the end of the last betting round, if more than one player remains, there is a showdown, in which the players reveal their previously hidden cards and evaluate their hands. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot. A poker hand consists of five cards, but in some variants a player has more than five to choose from. See betting (poker) for detailed rules regarding forced bets, betting actions, limits, stakes, and all-in situations. See List of poker variants and poker hand rankings for order of play and other details for the most common poker variants. The history of poker is a matter of debate. One of the earliest known games to incorporate betting, hand rankings, and bluffing was the 15th century German game Pochspiel. Poker closely resembles the Persian game of as nas, though there is no specific description of as nas prior to 1890.[1][2] In the 1937 edition of Foster's Complete Hoyle, R. F. Foster declared: "the game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of as nas."[3] [4]. By 1990s some gaming historians including David Parlett started to challenge the notion that poker is a direct derivative of As Nas.[5] There is evidence that a game called poque, a French game similar to poker, was played around the region where poker is said to have originated. The name of the game likely descended from the Irish Poca (Pron. Pokah) ('Pocket') or even the French poque, which descended from the German pochen ('to brag as a bluff' lit. 'to knock'[6] ). Yet it is not clear whether the origins of poker itself lie with the games bearing those names. It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The English game brag (earlier bragg) clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time).[7] It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now. English actor Joseph Crowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards and four players betting on which player's hand was the most valuable. Jonathan H. Green's book, An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843), described the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime. As it spread north along the Mississippi River and to the West during the gold rush, it is thought to have become a part of the frontier pioneer ethos. Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used, and the flush was introduced. During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. Further American developments followed, such as the wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and community card poker games (around 1925). The spread of the game to other countries, particularly in Asia, is often attributed to the U.S. military.

The game and jargon of poker have become important parts of American culture and English culture. Such phrases and clichés as ace in the hole, ace up one's sleeve, beats me, blue chip, call one's bluff, cash in, high roller, pass the buck, poker face, stack up, up the ante, when the chips are down, wild card, and others are used in everyday conversation, even by those unaware of their origins at the poker table. Poker's popularity experienced an unprecedented spike at the beginning of the 21st century, largely because of the introduction of online poker and the invention of the hole-card camera, which turned the game into a spectator sport. Viewers could now follow the action and drama of the game, and broadcasts of poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour brought in huge audiences for cable and satellite TV distributors. Because of the increasing coverage of poker events, poker pros became more like celebrities, with poker fans all over the world entering into expensive tournaments for the chance to play with them. This increased camera exposure also brings a new dimension to the poker professional's game—the realization that their actions may be aired later on TV. Major poker tournament fields have grown dramatically because of the growing popularity of online satellite-qualifier tournaments where the prize is an entry into a major tournament. The 2003 and 2004 WSOP champions, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, respectively, won their seats to the main event by winning online satellites.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

It is significant when play online to try and emotionally misbalance your opponents. Of course it is personal matter how you would like to build your poker image but it’s proved very successful to play arrogantly and provoke the other players.
This particular situation is a multi table tournament on a late stage and I am chip leader closely followed by Magicman2k7. Normally at this stage chip leaders are attacking the short stacks and don’t mess with each other. I do exactly the opposite: I attack and try to irritate the other chip leaders on the table.

On the first picture you can see that I managed to set my 8’s and I played as very amateur bluff going all in on the river after the opponent had made three value bets before me and I had just called. Here if I had made a reasonable reraise I would probably be called and won more chips but I decided to be aggressive and Magicman2k7 who definitely had something (probably good king) folded very undesirably.

The exact next hand I got the big slick and Magicman2k7 was standing on KT (king and ten). He raised and reraised him without hesitation. On the flop he caught the king and raised again and I did the exact same thing as the last time: went all in. The opponent was distracted by my pushes (both times he had relatively good cards).
More out of emotion than logic he made the call and I managed to double up.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Often in poker we are about to take hard decision based on our judgment. We have all the necessary info in front of us and what we really need is intuition plus luck. Everything about poker in our Online Catalogue.

One of the worst scenarios for every poker player is when finally they got a set and someone else managed to beat them. This thing happened here to Godea who after a series of weak cards and two hours of persistent folding finally reached something valuable as set of 9’s. And after fast reraising they both went all in early on the flop.For more poker emotions: Online Poker Catalogue.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

This is story about luck and respectable being very unlucky. This is a multi table tournament I raise with my favorite 2 plus A (Ace) and got called from the big blind.
On the flop I managed to catch an Ace but PinkLady70 is no very good position with two pairs. She betted half a pot and I paid believing that being on poison I can react better to the following cards: If she was drawing for diamond and not get it I could get more money from her or if she was standing on better Ace and there is diamond I could bluff het out – the advantage of being on position.
On the river I got a card which could be both my lucky and my deadly because I made two pairs but at the same time it opened the possible flush. PinkLady70 checked and I listened to my intuition bet very seriously (one pot). She pressed me all in and I was at the alternative to loose more then half of my stack. It would be the right decision to fold here being reraised meant that PinkLady70 has overplayed me with her flush and will take my chips. I called knowing that it was wrong but again trusting my intuition.
The show down was spectacular and I knew I was loosing it almost for sure. The river card but had its own opinion about it and I was the happy winner.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Here is very goo example of how unhappy one can be to have AA (pocket rockets) sometimes. Surely it is far better to flop a straight draw with yours 8 and T but the ideal poker situation is to do it when somebody is actually let you see the next hand.
This is very classical poker situation when you holding AA are wondering how to take more money from your opponents. You decided to let them see more cards but as well as profitable it can be a very dangerous.
In this case the player with the drawing hand catches the cards he wants and the monster handed guy does not know how to fold such hand and brings him disaster.

Poker is game of hard choices and the most one let their emotions to take a part in the game the worse the result is to be. Here is a typical example of how hard is to do the right thing.

I am playing a six players cash table and on the worse position "under the gun" I got a pair of kings. A hand that should be played very aggressively. Instead of doing that, pursuing my idea of how I should play equally all good starting hands in order to hide their real value from the other players on the table: I decided to raise just two blinds as normal. I was called by four players.

The flop was both good: giving me a set of kings and very bad allowing a flush on the table. I did what was the rightist thing to do: serious one pot raise and I was paid by Lainie_Jack. By not raising me he most certainly set me a trap: because of his better position he could wait for another card and possible second raise from me.

The turn changed the situation on the table once again. I knew that I was beat most probably and i just checked with the idea of folding on a raise. Lainie_Jack from his point of view was not so sure winner any more because I could very highly have jack, queen or ace of hearts. He decided just to check behind me.

The river did not changed anything. I checked which was indicating serious weakness this time. Lainie_Jack betted only half of the pot which showed he was not comfortable with the community cards as well. He I should have done one of the two things: fold or seriously re-raise to bluff him out. Regretfully for me I did the worst thing and just called.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

This is a heads-up tournament between omgwhataclown and Pot Odds 3 with 4 400 dollars price. On the flop omgwhataclown pushed the opponent all in and the game (it was the fourth dealing) this tournament was settled in one game.
It was completely wrong play from both players: first on this flop even with set is quite unreasonable to push all in because you will normally get paid only if you are beaten (the opponent has flush).
Second Pot Odds 3 made a horrible pay on pair of aces (if he had a king of diamonds it could probably make more sense but on top pair in this case is quite a lost cause.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Here we have a multi table tournament. It is still the early stages and I tried to play cheaply all the possible drawing hands I received. In this particular situation I played ace and five suited (hand which I would most certainly fold in early position in later stages of the tournament).
The flop is very good giving me nut flush draw. As the same time the flop seems more than prospective for Papi_Flor who is holding flush draw plus gut shot straight draw. He raised reasonably less than half pot and I gladly paid. The surprise here is that the third player - kelly1025 called with only a middle pair.
The turn was very lucky for me not only completing my flush but making the flush of Papi_Flor second nuts. The opponent decided to try and hide his flush just checking on the turn. I liked the idea and repeat the exercise giving kelly1025 chance to see freely the river.
And bingo: the river was exactly what I wanted the second pair in the hands of kelly1025.
Papi_Flor betted only half of the pot and I raised slightly only one big blind. The idea was first not to scare kelly1025 and second to give the ball back to Papi_Flor for re-raise. It happened exactly like planed kelly1025 called and after him Papi_Flor re-raised all in.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Poker is not a game of card but a game of situations
Here we have a multi table tournament and a very nice starting hand QQ (a pair of queens) and perfect position to play it. I raised only 5 big blinds in order to keep more players in the game and got called by the small blind PASHIA and surprisingly re-raised by the big blind MDW2002. Because of my late position on the table and my not so strong raise it could looked as steal in the eyes of PASHIA who had this advantage of the drawing hand (if you don’t catch the flop it is very easy to fold) so his call here looked really on place. On the other hand the double re-raise of MDW2002 show a great power and I easily put him on strong over-pair (QQ, KK or AA) or ace-king (AK). I preferred to just call and let him be the aggressor. PASHIA who already have made a call had no choice but to call again – he was just stacked between two raises.
The flop could hardly be better for me – setting my queens and there were no scary card as king or ace. The only really threat for me would be 8T or TK but I was almost sure that nobody would pay 10 big blind with such marginal hands (I was wrong about it because PASHIA actually did it). So, PASHIA checked and MDW2002 whose hand look really good as well (he had just an ace to be really afraid of) betted the pot and there was immediate all in raise (it was equal to double re-raise) from me. Here PASHIA called with his pair of nines and open ended straight draw (this is situation where he normally could have more outs than if he had only the OESD – because except of all the eights and all the kings – all the nines and all the tens could do it for him). Of course, having raise and re-raise here he should be aware that he is behind in the hand and fold. MDW2002 paid as well.
The turn and the river were neutral cards and I managed to treble up.

I guest every regular poker player has one or more hands that they just love to play. For me this is the pair of deuces (22). This is definitely my lucky hand and I play it very seriously and had a lot of winnings thanks to it.
This hand is a perfect example: The tourney is my favorite one table Sit and Go and I am chip leader. On the dealer button I am making a standard raise to steal the blinds and JohnyCas who is the short stack anyway is going all in. I simply paid.
The flop is turning two kings (KK) which is good for me and when on the turn I caught the third 2 I was the winner. Just to make his lost even more dramatic the river card appeared to be the fourth diamond on the table and the opponent was going home with nice flush.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Shootout tournaments are great option for players who want a non-stop action on the table. Here every mistake can be fatal and every hesitation is normally punished.

Here is the final of a small (8 players) shootout tourney. After half an hour of out bluffing each other this appeared to be most important hand. jeffjos666 raised three times the big blind and I paid with my suited connectors. The pot looked good for the opponent because there were no over cards he raised again 3/4 of the pot. On my side; a pair plus open ended straight draw was good enough for a call. The river completed my straight: it was really not very likely that jeffjos666 was holding a 9 - with his preflop raise I guessed that he either on two over cards or on a small pair. He raised 3/4 of the pot again and I was sure that he has hit a set. This was good for me and I shoved all in. jeffjos666 paid after serious consideration which made me sure that I will win this hand.

After the opponent was seriously harmed it was time for the killing hit. I started shoving everything on his easy melting stack and I was paid with A6. It was an irony that he managed to hit 6 but after all he was eliminated and I was victorious.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

This is a cash game in FullTilt Poker and on the small blind I paid the raised of toreds (3 big blinds).
The flop looked really perfect for me giving me the top pair and nut flush draw. toreds tried to take it with a pot raised and I was at the dilemma should I just pay or reraise here. I was sure that he is not on over pair because his preflop raise didn’t show so great strength. He was either on middle pair or on two over cards. I just paid and wait for the turn – if he was on middle pair and managed to set he would betted seriously there.
On the turn toreds didn’t bet which convinced me that he had completely missed the flop and here if I had bet I would bring down the pot but I decided to slowplay and let him catch something on the river (I hope I got the flush and the opponent an over card).
The river didn’t complete my flush but on the other hand it didn’t seem as scary card because I still got the tens. I raise one pot and the opponent reraised me twice and I paid.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

This is perfect example of how important is to know the rules of the game before you sit down at a table. It is multi table tournament (MTT) and the two heroes are: KUZIA and BOURBON222.
On the preflop with his weak Ace BOURBON222 decided to make a small raise and was paid by KUZIA who was sitting on a low pair. The flop missed them both so they checked.
On the turn BOURBON222 caught an eight so he betted half of the pot and reasonably was paid by the opponent who had its right to suspect that his 55 are good. The river changed the whole complexion of the game: because on the board there where two pairs QQ and 77 and KUZIA pocket pair had no value. Even if I had stayed in the game with my J2 would in front.
BOURBON222 betted the pot and KUZIA – the most wrong move (if he had reraised he had a chance of taking the pot after all).

I have read a lot of articles in European poker sites that American players are fishes and it is much easier and more profitable to play on platforms with them. Almost the same thing I have read about European players in American poker media. So are the American players fishes or what?

First let's don't forget that the poker and specifically Texas Hold'em is an American game with long traditions in the US and Canada furthermore Las Vegas is the favourite place for the poker pros. So speaking about high limits probably American players are the kings. But there is something else - maybe because of the fact that there in contradiction to Europe almost everybody is playing poker on-line on the low and middle limits there are a lot of player without real poker skills. I believe this is the true reason for us to consider the US and Canadian players weaker.

Here I should mention that players across Europe are very different as skills, discipline and tactics. According to my personal experience British players (and in Britain gambling is part of the culture itself) are the most serious and on every level you can meat really good players. After them I would put the Scandinavian players (I am avoiding them as well) and then German and French who are not bad but I personally don't mind to play with them. Worst and easy tilting are the Slavic people (among them and my countrymates from Bulgaria) and it is really a small celebration if I manage to find a table with predomination Slavic players.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Yesterday was an impressive day for online poker, as the record for the biggest online poker pot ever was broken 4 times in just a few hours.

FTPRailheaven and Gusheaven, the two $500/$1000 NLHE tables, were the center of attention, as the record for the largest online poker pot ever was broken four times in a matter of hours there.

Railheaven and Gusheaven have proven to be the right tables when it comes to large cash game pots over the past few months. Stars like Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, John Juanda or Phil Ivey play there and the record for the biggest online hand keeps getting broken there each week basically.

However, this record was not only broken once, but four times yesterday, and all in a matter of hours:

Tom "durrrr" Dwan started the action, winning a $618,000 pot against "LarsLuzak". On a 9c5d2s flop, durrrr held Ad9d, while LarsLuzak had 6d4s. With just a gutshot, Lars Luzak called the flop reraise and the turn bet and after not improving, pushed all-in on the blank river. Durrrr made the call with top two pair.

The next big hand - arguably the most upsetting one - was won by John Juanda, who held KcKs, while his opponent, Tom Dwan, had AhAc. They both went all-in preflop, and while things looked good for Dwan, the river showed Kh and Juanda took the $678,000 pot.

The next hand had Juanda again, this time against Phil Ivey: Juanda had Ks8s and Ivey had ThTd. With the flop showing Ac5sTs, Ivey already had the trips, but Juanda was aiming for the flush so he continued. However, the(turn)3c and(river)9h were of no help to Juanda, and so Ivey won $687,000 with this hand.

The biggest hand of the evening - and the biggest one ever - was quite similar to the second hand and was was between Di "Urindanger" Dang and Tom "durrrr" Dwan. The flop came 5h9c4c and Urindanger went all-in, as he had AsAd, while durrrr called with his KdKs. However, no king emerged on the turn or river, and Urindanger managed to win $723,000, the biggest online pot ever.